I just ordered a new MCS, due to arrive in December. I ordered it with the HK upgrade and sirius. I have an infinity basslink (and a ton of other moderate aftermarket equipment) in my current car, an old saab convertible. I'm not inclined to mess much with the HK setup (I assume replacing amps is a big deal) but am wondering about the potential contribution that the basslink would make.

(For those who don't know, the basslink is a 10" trunk-mounted subwoofer with built-in amp.)

Anyone have experience patching a basslink into a mini? Esp. interested in whether people think this is a reasonable upgrade to the HK system or if the HK is good enough without a real sub to round out the bottom end.

 

I am blown away by my HK in the Mini. Unless you want to rock houses a block away, you don't need any addition. I use the "electronic" setting and the bass is incredibly low and clear

 

I just came out of an all pioneer setup in my Thunderbird into the MCS with the H/K, and I would say that what the whole system needs is more volume. It's plenty loud at a stoplight... but once I get going, it's not loud enough... Daily I find myself trying to turn it up only to find it's up all the way. I'm sure if you can reduce the bass output the H/K makes and fill in with the Basslink, go for it... can't hurt to try it!

 

are you saying you literally have the volume at max? if so you must be deaf!

 

>>are you saying you literally have the volume at max? if so you must be deaf!
Most likely he has trained his ears to tolerate the louder music and still feel comfortable. If there is some high end hearing loss from working in a loud environment in the past like an airport or factory, military training, wearing earphones at high volume, etc, then that adds to the need for higher volumes. Young people with sensitive hearing and no damage can hear perfectly well at low volumes but we loose some hearing by growing older and that is natural.

I think the infinity Basslink is a good addition to the standard audio system in a MINI.
For the H/K system although there is already decent bass the speakers are not really subwoofers so the addition of powered dedicated subwoofers would be an option. I would say that it would be possible to add the Basslink and if you do let us know how it works out for you. Cost and performance compared to without the Basslink.

Pooky13 had kept the Headunit initially kept the H/K speakers and added amps x 2 and the JL stealthbox (doesn't come with an amp) with very good results but the price is high $2000.

 

mkosma: Like you, my MCS is due in December.

As an audiophile, I thought of upgrading to an extensive system w/ a custom sub enclosure and an amp rack in the trunk. After further consideration, I decided againt such notion because additional lbs can hinder the performance of the MCS. Hence, I ended up opting for the HK and purchased the basslink for the sub-bass. I hope HK w/ basslink can satisfy my listening pleasure. If not, I might consider upgrading the speakers and possibly adding an amp for extra power. :smile:

 

>>mkosma: Like you, my MCS is due in December.
>>
>>As an audiophile, I thought of upgrading to an extensive system w/ a custom sub enclosure and an amp rack in the trunk. After further consideration, I decided againt such notion because additional lbs can hinder the performance of the MCS. Hence, I ended up opting for the HK and purchased the basslink for the sub-bass. I hope HK w/ basslink can satisfy my listening pleasure. If not, I might consider upgrading the speakers and possibly adding an amp for extra power. :smile:

davecsumini,
Aloha and welcome to NAM-
Yes, this is a big problem trying to do good sounds and have a quick and powerful MCS.
Imagine all of the upgrades you could buy for the best audio setup and stack them all up in front of you. Now load them up in a shopping cart and see how heavy it all is. 100 pounds is easy (could include you stock system plus add ons) or up to 200 pounds when you have big subwoofers and big amps. Cables and speaker magnets are all heavy. Sound deadening material weighs alot.

So you want to get a decent clear sound that is not overcome by your exhaust while not spending too much on either the audio upgrades or the performance upgrades.

My suggestion is keep to your plan and go for lightweight wheels for your MINI. A quiet but louder than stock exhaust if you like- I would recommend borla street and a good intake maybe Pilo if you're on a budget and Alta with hose if you are not. If the handling still needs help then add a rear swaybar 22mm with softer setting and if that is not enough then add lowering springs but the ride gets rougher.

Even with the H/K and infinity basslink the sound deadening material will help the front doors. Dynamat extreme or Cascade Audio VB-2 or VB-max is fine.

 

I have the infinity bass link installed in my MC. I had two 12 inch subs in my previous car and after a week of driving the MINI with the stock system I needed some more bass. Although the bass link doesn't push nearly as much bass as the subs did, it is still a good choice for the size of the car. Even the guy I had install it said that it was like the bass link was made for this car. I also had the optional bass volume control installed so I can turn the amount of bass up and down.
If you have the equipment already, might as well use it!

 

Can anyone who's hooked up the Basslin to the HK system describe the steps necessary to do so?

Would it be best to splice into the line-level wires coming out of the HK amp/dsp and feed those into the basslink? What about high-pass filtering on the HK speakers so there isn't as much mid-bass mud?

And can you tap into the power source the HK uses, or do you need to run a direct line to the battery (in the boot on an MCS)?

 

bump ^?

 

bump!
I am interested in this as well ^^^^

 

I didn't use the Baselink, but this is how I put my amp into my H/K. Similiar process I'm sure.

http://www.geekshocker.com/Claire/audio/ampInstall.php

Let me know if you have any questions about it.

 

I have questions regarding this.

From what I read, you take the speaker signal post-HKamp, which means the HK amp has processed it.

Doesnt the HK amp cut the low frequencies that the speakers can't produce?
Are there still low-frequency signals in there that the sub can use?

 

Good luck on your upgrade. See my posts on the DPSM. For those inclined to upgrade to the Digital Power SoundModul, realize just how bad things can get.

 

Stefx -

I had a similar question regarding the supression of low frequencies by the HK amp to protect the stock speakers. Unfortunately, no one seems to know the answer. As far as I can tell, most seem to agree that the HK amp does in fact block some of the lowest frequencies, which of course is not good for hooking up subs. For my system (soon to be installed), I am going to remove the HK amp altogether and use the line-level leads coming directly from the stock HU (these are definitely full range). Of course, your question implies leaving the HK amp in place, and thus my plan won't help you.

However, there are enough people out there using the Basslink (an other stanalone sub options) that there must be way to make it work. My suggestion is that you contact some of these users directly and find out exactly how they hooked their's up.

I realize my response is not very helpful, but I wanted you to get some response to your question.

Good luck.

 

Thanks

If you take the line-level signal from the HU, how are you going to control volume? The line-level output from the HU is fixed, not variable with the volume ****.

 

Apparently, the line-level outputs feeding the HK amp are fixed, but only when connected to the amp. When they are so connected, the volume is controlled by the amp through the K-Bus connection. As soon as you remove the amp, the K-Bus is no longer active, and the stock HU's outputs revert to variable power controlled by the HU itself. This makes sense as the stock HU is the same whether used in the HK setup or in the so-called "Boost" setup. However, in order for this reversion to occurr, the HK amp needs to be disconnected altogether. For this reason, some have reported that the HK setup is an all-or-none sollution. Of course, as I stated earlier, I am skeptical of this claim because a lot of people are keeping the HK and employing a standalone unit such as the Basslink.

My "guess" (definitely just that) is that people who use Basslink and similar systems hook them up after the HK amp using the rear speaker outputs. With this setup, the sub is seeing most of the low frequencies, even if some of the lowest are cutoff (like <30 Hz. or so). I doubt most people even know what those low frequencies even sound like. Thus, when they say their system sounds great, they probably don't know what they're missing. But hey, I am definitely not the one to rain on their parade if they are satisfied. Audio is, afterall, such a personal thing, right?